Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has issued a dire warning to her party about the chaos that could ensue if they succeed in pushing President Joe Biden off the ticket. And she criticized Democrats who’ve given off-the-record quotes that suggest the party has resigned itself to a second Trump term.
In an Instagram Live video on Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez warned liberals that a brokered convention could lead to chaos, in part because she says some of the Democratic “elites” who want Biden out also don’t want Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee in his place.
“If you think that is going to be an easy transition, I’m here to tell you that a huge amount of the donor class and these elites who are pushing for the president not to be the nominee also do not want to see the VP be the nominee,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez claimed none of the people she’s spoken with who are calling on Biden to drop out — including lawmakers and legal experts — have articulated a plan to swap out the nominee without minimizing the serious legal and procedural challenges that are likely to ensue.
Ocasio-Cortez also highlighted the racial, ethnic and class divisions that appear to have formed between the majority of those pining to blow up the ticket — led mostly by white Democrats and media pundits — and those elected officials who feel they and their constituents have too much at stake to upend the process at this point and so are willing to do the work to re-elect Biden-Harris. She alluded to this cultural divide in her video when she spoke out against anonymous sources expressing a sense of fatalism on behalf of Democrats about what might happen if Biden remains on the ticket:
What I will say is what upsets me is [Democrats] saying we will lose. For me, to a certain extent, I don’t care what name is on there. We are not losing. I don’t know about you, but my community does not have the option to lose. My community does not have the luxury of accepting loss in July of an election year. My people are the first ones deported. They’re the first ones put in Rikers. They’re the first ones whose families are killed by war.
Biden cannot be forced out. It is Biden’s decision. There is no harm in discussing this topic while we’re waiting for the nomination. Biden has until the virtual convention that is scheduled for the start of August to make a decision. Either option, Biden staying in or dropping out of the race has risks. We need to rally around whoever the candidate ends up being.
I think it makes strategic sense for Harris to takeover and pick Whitmer for her VP. My opinion is a moot point, because I have no say in this. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like Biden is thinking about odds and strategy. He’s thinking about his ego.
Sure he can be forced out.
There’s lots of ways. Like the DNC deciding “nope”.
Even if they don’t go that way, donors pull out, party backstabbing.
Plenty of things to do.
Donors have already pulled out saying they want a new candidate. They aren’t stupid enough to throw away their money on a candidate that will 100% lose.
And the Trump campaign hasn’t even started the big spending.
Doners don’t want Biden’s tax hikes, it’s not about electability.
They would have demanded Biden to step down far earlier if this was the case.
And they would never have backed 2020 Biden to begin with.
They waited until they saw weakness.
Biden cannot be forced out based on the Democratic Party’s rules as written. The Democratic Party changing the rules to dump Biden would be a historic first. It would be a bashed-slammed-bomb-cyclone-fire-tornado-buzz-word news story that would be the only headline for days, maybe weeks.
Donors are already pulling out. Fundraising is down. Obama signaled Biden should drop out. There will undoubtedly be more in the next two weeks. edit: typo
Based on a court ruling from ‘16, “they’re a private group. They can do what they want.”
Sure, they can do whatever they want. See how doing whatever they want plays with voters though. This would be taking the nuclear option for political parties. If the Democratic Party forced out Biden, angry and/or apathetic Americans would be talking about it for at least the next two election cycles, possibly longer. That’s assuming we win of course and the Republican Party hasn’t killed us all in death camps.
edit: This would be different than Bernie. Biden has won the primary based on the DNC’s rules. edit: typo